The Long and Short of It
yup, that's me
I am a Web & UX Developer with over 15 years of experience in front-end coding, design, and usability. I want to make the Web a more beautiful, usable place.
In 2010, I relocated from New York to California, where I live with with my wife and our ragtag pack of furry rescues.
A Little History
I built my first web site back in 1996, based around an online game that I used to play. In retrospect, it was a hideous creation (that is now safely buried on my hard drive), but it set me on the path to where I am today. I had found my passion.
It's been a long journey from those heady days of <blink> tags and mindnumbing animated GIFs. From designing in Photoshop to programming in PHP to understanding what constitutes good design and usability, I learned everything on my own. And I enjoyed every minute of it.
Then somewhere along the line, someone took notice of what I loved to do, and suddenly, this hobby turned into a career.
Working It
I've worn lots of different hats throughout my career, which has led to experiences in many different areas of development. I've held such roles as project manager, designer, programmer, information architect, and even the "IT Guy."
If I had to categorize myself, I'd probably fall under "The Core."
Currently, I work at Ticketmaster, where I research and play around with new web technologies. Seriously, I get paid to have fun.
I consider myself incredibly lucky that my job has never been just work. It's actually something that I genuinely love to do.
Standards Matter
I'm big on standards. I believe that user interfaces should be intensely intuitive. Nothing spoils great content or an awesome application faster than poor IA.
I'm obsessive about writing clean code and separating content from design and functionality. I <3 HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery. I derive more enjoyment out of hand-coding than is probably healthy.
Beyond the Web
If you don't find me tinkering with technology or the Web, I am probably busy cheering on one of my favorite teams. Sadly, this includes the Mets and Knicks. But at least I have the Rangers and Giants!
In my spare time, I like to read, write, and travel as much as possible. I love to see the world and experience the vast diversity of cultures and peoples. It's my personal goal to visit every continent (well, except Antarctica maybe). I still have a ways to go.
My geekdom also extends to business and finance. I blame my business degree from NYU. It's probably why I'm a spreadsheet junkie and will use one for practically anything.
Probably one of the simplest and greatest joys in life is coming home and being greeted by a bunch of wagging tails.